Thunder’s Weekly Rundown 08/18/12

Jinder Mahal defeats Richie Steamboat using the camel clutch to advance to the finals of the NXT Championship tournament.

^I’ve made it clear and I’m going to say it again: I don’t care for Jinder Mahal. I think his character is boring, and I think his move set is extremely limited and he has zero potential for the future. I understand WWE being about gimmicks and wanting to ENTERTAIN first, but Steamboat advancing to the finals of this tournament would have made for a FAR more interesting tournaments finals matchup. The match between these two was good, but I wish the finish had been different.

Scotty 2 Hotty returns and defeats Heath Slater using the worm.

^The legends are everywhere! Scotty 2 Hotty was billed as being from Orlando, but all these years prior he’s been billed from Maine. Regardless, Scotty and Slater put on a fun short match, and Slater continues to rock the one man band gimmick with ease. I’m enjoying it, and I’m enjoying these segments more and more no matter what show they occur on.

The Usos defeat the Ascension when Conor O’Brian pushes Jey off the top rope to the outside and gets the team disqualified. The Ascension beat Jimmy down after the match.

^I was hoping the Ascension would be more of a dominant angry face/tweener team, and not come across as heels that resort to dirty tactics. I’m also confused as to why this was a DQ finish and why the match didn’t just continue after Jey was pushed to the floor. Apparently NXT has whatever rules they like for their finish. I love good tag team wrestling, and the Usos deliver it consistently more than any other team in WWE right now. It’s a shame they haven’t held the tag titles yet.

Seth Rollins defeats Michael McGillicutty using the curb stomp. Jinder Mahal comes out after the match and Dusty Rhodes tells them to wait until next week. Mahal gets in the ring anyway and Rollins knocks him outside.

^Rollins and McGillicutty worked a sound match together, and I can’t wait to see these guys together in the future. McGillicutty is on his way to big things and it’s well deserved, and I can see Rollins right there at the top with him on the main roster. It’s such a huge future ahead for both of these guys and it makes me very optimistic for the future of WWE in general.

WWE Superstars 08/16/12

The Usos defeat Michael McGillicutty and Johnny Curtis when they deliver the samoan splash to McGillicutty.

Alex Riley defeats Drew McIntyre.

Damien Sandow defeats Justin Gabriel in the main event.

Thoughts: The Usos put on their second quality match this week, and it delivered. These guys really need a good TV push and a run with the belts. A-Ri and McIntyre are two guys that WWE has been high on forever, but I think sometimes WWE just needs to learn to cut their losses on boring characters. They wrestled an okay match, but I really can’t see either one of these guys being wildly successful as top notch Superstars. Sandow and Gabriel’s main event was awesome. These two guys both came up through FCW and are terrific performers. I’d like to see more personality from Justin Gabriel to move his character along a bit also. Overall it was a quality show this week on Superstars.

Impact Wrestling 08/16/12

Austin Aries opens the show and says he is not a fluke. He calls himself the face of Impact Wrestling and says he is running the show and the company will not be held hostage. Jeff Hardy comes out and says he is going to win the BFGS. Hardy calls out Aces and Eights but Bully Ray comes out instead. Bully Ray calls him stupid and tells him James Storm is in charge of Aces and Eights. Aces and Eights show up on the tron and say that they will make their presence felt tonight.

^Austin Aries is one of three impressive mic guys to come out of ROH along with Punk and DBry, and TNA is lucky they snatched him up as a top talent when they did.

Samoa Joe defeats Magnus.

^Joe is on his way to being the Joe of old, and I hope the run continues. Anybody else want to see Joe win this series and face AA for the World Title?

Madison Rayne is confronted by Brooke Hogan and told she will defend the title against Miss Tessmacher tonight with a special referee for the match. Aces and Eights corner Brooke Hogan until the TNA locker room makes the save. Sting issues an open challenge for Aces and Eights next week.

^Brooke Hogan bores me, and the Aces and Eight storyline has been stuck in second gear for awhile now. Time to do something new!

AJ Styles faces Christopher Daniels with stipulations of Claire’s baby involved. If AJ wins, he gets a paternity test to prove he isn’t the father of her baby. If Daniels wins, AJ will accept that he is the father without question. Styles wins despite attempted interference by Frankie Kazarian.

^Another OUTSTANDING match from two of the best wrestlers in TNA. I love seeing what these two can do together, but I’d like to see what they can do with other performers.

Hogan tells Sting over the phone that he will be back next week to face off with Aces and Eights.

^I think Sting could turn on Hogan and be the leader of this group. Old school to Sting could possibly mean a rivalry with Hogan.

James Storm tells Jeff Hardy that he will be ringside to make sure Aces and Eights don’t interfere in his match with Bully Ray.

^James Storm could be putting on an act and turn on TNA. It would be very Hogan-nWo like, and very predictable as well.

Bobby Roode comes to the ring and blames everyone for the fact that he can’t challenge for the World Title again while Aries is champion. Roode walks out while the fans are booing him.

^Roode is such a great character; I really hope he’s given a legit role outside the World Title scene and is allowed to stay as a heel. No pity for this guy!

Taryn Tarrell(Tiffany from WWE/ECW) is announced as the guest referee for Madison Rayne and Miss Tessmacher. Tarrell counts the three for Tessmacher to become the NEW Knockouts Champion.

^Tiffany looked great. She was boring as ECW GM, but she’s certainly fun to look at. I’m glad they put the title back on Tessmacher, and I don’t feel like this was a bad thing for the title. A wrong was made right, and that actually reminds me more of the Attitude era in WWE than anything else.

Aces and Eights try to interfere in the main event but they are run off by Aries, Sting, AJ, and Angle. Jeff Hardy defeats Bully Ray with a rollup after a twist of fate. James Storm accidentally kicks Hardy after the match when Bully Ray moves and Ray leaves the ring. Storm stands over Hardy until he is attacked by Aces and Eights from behind. The show ends with them stomping down Storm.

^Good match, and a good finish to the show. Storm could be really convincing now as the leader of the group after the beatdown. I love twists and turns, but if this storyline doesn’t progress soon, it’s going to ruin the show.

WWE Smackdown 08/17/12

Alberto Del Rio opens the show and he wants his World Title match back at Summerslam right now. Booker T comes out and tells Del Rio to quit whining. Jericho comes out and tells ADR the same thing. Jericho says he will steal Del Rio’s World Title Match at Summerslam. Booker says Sheamus will not be competing at Summerslam, but Jericho will face ADR in the main event tonight.

Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara defeat Cody Rhodes and the Miz. Mysterio pins Rhodes after a 619 and splash from the top rope when Rhodes is trying to pull Sin Cara’s mask off.

Reks and Hawkins dress as male strippers and defeat a team of jobbers.

William Regal tells Eve goodluck tonight. She says she doesn’t need it. Regal talks about power being his downfall and then gets ordered by his “boss” to take out some garbage.

A Wade Barrett return promo is shown.

Eve defeats Kaitlyn to become Booker T’s new assistant. Eve is shown backstage and Booker congratulates her on winning the job.

Daniel Bryan goes one on one with Randy Orton. Kane’s pyro goes off when Bryan gets the “no lock” on Orton and Bryan releases the hold. Kane is nowhere to be found and Bryan gets RKOd when he jumps back in the ring and Orton picks up the victory. Kane comes out after the match and smiles at DBry.

Antonio Cesaro squashes Zack Ryder.

Ziggler attacks Jericho before the main event. Jericho wrestles the match anyway and loses to Del Rio after more help from Ziggler. An injured Sheamus attacks Del Rio but ADR gets the upper hand. Sheamus ends up chasing ADR off and Booker T comes out. Sheamus demands Booker to reinstate the match at Summerslam and he does.

Thoughts: Booker T is a boring personality for me so far as GM. Rhodes and Sin Cara should have a Summerslam match and have it last longer than five minutes. The Reks and Hawkins gimmick is awful, and I believe WWE did that on purpose. They should’ve had a legit match with either the Usos, PTP, or Primo and Epico. Damn creative team. Eve will be humiliated as Booker’s assistant starting next week and I can’t wait! The Bryan/Orton match was awesome, but they really could’ve waited and had Kane spook Bryan after the match. Do they not want us to think Orton can beat Bryan clean without help? Book smarter with less match interference, PLEASE! Cesaro is great, but Ryder should’ve given him a better match. Again, I hate booking. I love the fuel to the fire for both the World Title match and the Jericho/Ziggler match. Let’s face it; we knew the World Title match was going to take place. It was all a matter of how it was going to end up happening. Booker’s emotions are angry and annoyed at all times. He’s not very broad in terms of his overall personality in this position so far.

News Items:

The midcard roster is angry: I don’t know what exactly is going to come from all this, but it’s making headlines. WWE either needs to pay its athletes better, or figure out a way to cut their spending in other areas.

The WWE Title: Punk’s match with Show and Cena is booked to go on last of the night as of right now. I hope this is true, because it will add to me predictions for the show. The WWE Title is the most prestigious(or it’s supposed to be), and it shouldn’t be on the show before any other match, EVER.

WWE continues to push the Anti-bullying campaign: I love the campaign. People can call WWE hypocrites all they want for endorsing the program, but I think it’s fantastic. WWE is entertainment on television, and they depict things that can be found in any other tv show(including bullying). Scripting bullying in any form does not mean an endorsement for it, and this is why I’m okay with WWE Superstars supporting and promoting the cause. Props to WWE on this one.

2013 Hall of Fame rumors: Mick Foley, Kevin Nash and Bob Backlund are rumored to be inductees next year. We all know how I feel about Nash, but he definitely played a significant part in the history of both WWE and WCW(he sunk it just as quick as the nWo launched it into number one status). Let me repeat that so NASH can understand it if he ever gets a chance to read this. The nWo CONCEPT and the heel turn of Hulk Hogan made the nWo as great as it was. Scott Hall’s wrestling ability made the nWO as great as it was at the jump. Your terrible promos and boring matches had little to do with the success of the group, so please stop buying into the hype that you’ve built for yourself. Foley has done a lot for four different wrestling organizations(WCW, ECW, WWE, and TNA), and the man deserves to be recognized; I’m happy for him. Bob Backlund was a great WWF Champion and he should’ve already been inducted before now.

See, I told you guys I can’t go very long without trashing Nash. It’s sad that the only thing anyone talks about with him is how awful he was(kind of funny too!). Make to check out Thunder and Lightning’s first inductee into our Pure Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame and look for our Summerslam predictions to be posted by tomorrow morning! Until next time, thanks for reading!